FlightLinq API

FlightLinq API WordPress Plugin is an unofficial WordPress plugin for connecting a Commercial-tier FlightLinq Developer API key to a WordPress website. It displays virtual airline data through shortcodes, PHP helper functions, and filtered REST endpoints, and is designed for virtual airline websites and dashboards.

About FlightLinq

FlightLinq is a platform for virtual airlines, pilots, and flight simulation communities. It provides tools for managing airline operations, tracking flights, handling routes, fleets, pilots, and related operational data.

This plugin is not the official FlightLinq API. It is a WordPress integration plugin that helps virtual airlines display selected FlightLinq data on their own WordPress websites.

Features

• Server-side storage for the FlightLinq Developer API key.
• WordPress admin settings and connection testing.
• Optional API response caching with a configurable duration.
• Read-only, filtered public REST endpoints that can be disabled.
• Responsive frontend shortcodes for airline summaries, recent flights, pilot leaderboards, fleet data, routes, and route maps.
• Route filtering by hub, departure, arrival, aircraft type, and search terms.
• Interactive Leaflet route maps.
• OpenStreetMap tiles by default, with no map API key required.
• Optional Mapbox tile provider using a public token.
• PHP helper functions for theme and template integration.
• Internationalization-ready structure using the flightlinq-api text domain.

Google Maps is not supported.

Requirements

• WordPress 5.8 or later.
• PHP 7.4 or later.
• FlightLinq Commercial-tier Developer API access.
• A read-only FlightLinq Developer API key.

Leaflet 1.9.4 assets are loaded from unpkg.com only when an interactive route map is rendered. OpenStreetMap or Mapbox supplies the map tiles, so interactive maps require access to the selected provider.

Installation

1. Upload the flightlinq-api directory to /wp-content/plugins/.
2. Activate FlightLinq API in the WordPress Plugins screen.
3. Open the FlightLinq API settings page in WordPress.
4. Add the FlightLinq Developer API key.
5. Configure cache, public REST access, and route mapping options.
6. Save the settings and test the connection.

Configuration

OpenStreetMap works without an API key. Mapbox requires a public token. The FlightLinq Developer API key is never exposed to frontend JavaScript or public REST responses.

Shortcodes

All shortcodes support the existing plugin cache and display user-friendly fallback messages when data is unavailable.

Airline summary

[flightlinq_airline_summary] displays an airline profile with its identity, media, description, website, and available statistics.

Simple example:

[flightlinq_airline_summary]

Advanced example:

[flightlinq_airline_summary layout="compact" surface="card" show_banner="no" show_description="no"]

Main attributes:

• layout: card or compact.
• theme: inherit, auto, light, or dark.
• surface: transparent or card.
• show_logo, show_banner, show_name, show_code, show_iata, show_headquarters, show_founded, show_website, show_description, and statistic-specific show_* attributes: yes or no.
• banner_url, banner_fit, and banner_ratio: optional banner overrides and display controls.

Recent flights

[flightlinq_recent_flights] displays recently approved flights as a table or responsive cards.

Simple example:

[flightlinq_recent_flights]

Advanced example:

[flightlinq_recent_flights layout="cards" limit="10"]

Main attributes:

• limit: number of flights to display, from 1 to 50.
• layout: table or cards.
• theme and surface: visual integration controls.
• show_date, show_pilot, show_flight_number, show_route, show_aircraft_type, show_aircraft_registration, show_block_time, show_flight_time, show_score, and show_landing_rate: yes or no.

Pilot leaderboard

[flightlinq_pilot_leaderboard] displays monthly or all-time pilot rankings.

Simple example:

[flightlinq_pilot_leaderboard]

Advanced example:

[flightlinq_pilot_leaderboard timeframe="month" limit="10"]

Main attributes:

• timeframe: month or all.
• limit: number of pilots to display, from 1 to 50.
• layout: table, cards, or podium.
• theme and surface: visual integration controls.
• show_rank, show_name, show_hours, show_total_flights, and show_average_landing_rate: yes or no.

Fleet by aircraft type

[flightlinq_fleet_by_type] displays fleet totals grouped by aircraft type, including technical data when available.

Simple example:

[flightlinq_fleet_by_type]

Advanced example:

[flightlinq_fleet_by_type show_range="yes" show_seats="yes" show_hours="yes" show_category="yes"]

Main attributes:

• show_range, show_seats, show_hours, and show_category: yes or no.
• theme and surface: visual integration controls.

Routes by hub

[flightlinq_routes_by_hub] displays a route table with optional hub, airport, aircraft, search, pagination, and sorting filters.

Simple example:

[flightlinq_routes_by_hub hub="LFPO" limit="20"]

Advanced example:

[flightlinq_routes_by_hub departure="LFPO" aircraft_type="A20N" sort_by="distance" sort_order="desc" limit="20"]

Main attributes:

• hub, departure, and arrival: ICAO airport filters. hub is used as the departure filter when departure is omitted.
• aircraft_type and search: aircraft and free-text filters.
• sort_by and sort_order: route sorting controls.
• limit and page: pagination controls.
• theme and surface: visual integration controls.

Route map and route table

[flightlinq_routes_map] displays routes as an interactive map or as a route table.

Simple example:

[flightlinq_routes_map]

Interactive filtered map:

[flightlinq_routes_map layout="map" departure="LFPO" limit="50"]

Compact route table:

[flightlinq_routes_map layout="table" departure="LFPO" limit="50"]

Detailed route table:

[flightlinq_routes_map layout="table" table_view="full" departure="LFPO" limit="20"]

Main attributes:

• layout: map or table.
• table_view: compact or full when table layout is selected.
• hub, departure, arrival, aircraft_type, and search: route filters.
• sort_by, sort_order, and limit: sorting and result controls.
• provider: openstreetmap or mapbox; the admin setting is used when omitted.
• height: map height in pixels.
• theme and surface: visual integration controls.

Route maps

• layout="map" displays an interactive Leaflet map with route lines, airport markers, and popups.
• OpenStreetMap is the default tile provider.
• Mapbox can be selected in the admin and requires a public token.
• layout="table" displays a compact route table.
• table_view="full" displays the detailed route table.
• Routes without coordinates remain available in table mode.
• Routes without valid coordinates are skipped on the map and reported in the map notice.
• The provider and default map height can be configured globally and overridden by supported shortcode attributes.

PHP helper functions

The plugin exposes read-only helper functions for WordPress themes and custom integrations.

Example: display the airline name.

<?php
$airline = flightlinq_api_get_airline();

if ( flightlinq_api_is_error( $airline ) ) {
    echo esc_html( flightlinq_api_get_error_message( $airline ) );
    return;
}

$name = flightlinq_api_get_nested_value( $airline, 'name', 'Unknown airline' );
echo esc_html( $name );

Example: display recent route data.

<?php
$routes = flightlinq_api_get_routes( array( 'limit' => 20 ) );

if ( flightlinq_api_is_error( $routes ) ) {
    echo esc_html__( 'No data available', 'flightlinq-api' );
    return;
}

foreach ( flightlinq_api_normalize_collection( $routes ) as $route ) {
    $departure = flightlinq_api_get_nested_value( $route, 'departure.icaoCode', 'N/A' );
    $arrival   = flightlinq_api_get_nested_value( $route, 'arrival.icaoCode', 'N/A' );

    echo '<p>' . esc_html( $departure . ' -> ' . $arrival ) . '</p>';
}

Helper functions return data or WP_Error objects and do not render output directly.

REST API

The plugin registers read-only endpoints under the flightlinq/v1 namespace:

• GET /wp-json/flightlinq/v1/airline
• GET /wp-json/flightlinq/v1/airline/stats
• GET /wp-json/flightlinq/v1/pilots
• GET /wp-json/flightlinq/v1/routes
• GET /wp-json/flightlinq/v1/routes/map
• GET /wp-json/flightlinq/v1/fleet
• GET /wp-json/flightlinq/v1/flights/recent
• GET /wp-json/flightlinq/v1/leaderboards/pilots

Public responses are filtered for external use. Public REST access can be disabled in the plugin settings; disabled endpoints return HTTP 403. The FlightLinq Developer API key is never included in REST responses.

Cache

The optional cache uses WordPress transients to reduce repeated FlightLinq API requests. Administrators can configure the cache duration and clear cached responses from the settings page.

Security

• Store the FlightLinq Developer API key on the server only.
• Do not expose the key in frontend JavaScript or custom public output.
• Public REST responses are filtered to supported fields.
• REST endpoints are read-only.
• Technical FlightLinq errors are hidden from public REST responses.
• Use scoped, read-only FlightLinq keys whenever possible.

Internationalization

The plugin uses the flightlinq-api text domain and loads translation files from /languages. English is the source language. French translation files will be provided in a later release.

Support

For support, bug reports, or feature requests, open an issue on the project repository.

Maintainer

This plugin is maintained by Air BlueFox, a virtual airline and flight simulation community.

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for the full release history.

License

This plugin is licensed under the GPL-2.0-or-later license. See LICENSE for details.